William Teachworth

WILLIAM RICHARD TEACHWORTH

January 9, 1939 - April 27, 2024

William Richard Teachworth, an active and enthusiastic community leader in Santa Monica, passed away on April 27, 2024 in Newport Beach of natural causes.

Mr. Teachworth worked for the Food and Drug Administration for 32 years, becoming a senior investigator. In 1985, he was the lead investigator for the Food and Drug Administration in the infamous Jalisco Cheese toxic recall of that year.

In addition, William Teachworth owned two apartment buildings in Santa Monica and became a vigorous advocate for landlord rights in the 1980s and 1990s. Mr. Teachworth was also a committed member of the Trinity Baptist Church, the Republicans of Santa Monica, YMCA, and other civic groups in town, especially from 1980 to 2000.

William, also known as Bill Teachworth, was born in St. Paul, Minnesota on January 9, 1939 to Grace Myrtle Cowing Teachworth and Charles Burns Teachworth. He had one sibling, his half-brother, Robert Meyer.

His family moved to Santa Monica in 1945. Bill attended Santa Monica High School, Santa Monica College, and the University of California at Riverside, where he received a BS in 1962 in a three-pronged program focusing on physics, chemistry, and mathematics.

He married Sue Ellen Moran in 1996 in Newport Beach, and they made their home there afterwards.

William Teachworth is survived by his spouse, Sue Ellen, his niece, Karen Ruiz, his grand niece, Trina Ruiz, his grand nephews, Eddie Ruiz and Christopher Vargas, plus numerous grand nephews and nieces.

To his friends and family, Bill Teachworth will be remembered as a fun-loving, large-hearted, but also resolute person with a strong sense of loyalty and ethics.